Stepaside is a step sequencer for electric guitar.
Strongly inspired by the incredible Zvex Seek Wah, my idea was to add into a compact format additional features, like a tap tempo, which was not part of the original version of this pedal (it was introduced in the Super Seek Wah).
In order to deal with tap tempo and additional controls, I have developed a custom firmware for the attiny25/45. The microcontroller will then drive a 4017 decade counter, where only 8 output are used. Slightly differently than other designs I have seen on the web, I decided to control the reset pin of the 4017 with the attiny: the aim is to have control on the number of steps without limitations without using additional hardware. I then decided to use the “division” control in a different way you’d use the same control on - let’s say - a delay: in the case of this pedal, it does control how many steps will be inside a full beat. This opens the possibility of having – for instance – an outer beat of 5 steps (with the “steps” control) and a sub-beat with tap tempo of 3 steps (you have to play with it to fully enjoy it!).
Get in touch and let me know what you think of it. I haven’t decided yet if this is something I want to have in my PCB stock yet, but if there is demand, I’ll definitely make sure I have a few spare PCB/microcontrollers.
Below a small demo of the final build:
And two more videos using an additional pedal to control the input or the output of the step sequencer:
Finally, some photos of my first prototype:
